Chapter 72
Chapter 72
Shengsheng spent one second deciding whether to kneel and apologize for impersonating the Bodhisattva or turn and run.
In the end, she cravenly dropped to her knees.
“Guanyin Bodhisattva, this faithful woman vows to eat vegetarian food and worship the Buddha all her life in atonement. Please do not blame this faithful woman.”
Muttering prayers, she was about to attempt a kowtow–
When the venerable Bodhisattva fell out of the sky.
Guanyin lay on the ground. Shengsheng stared back with the expression of someone suffering terrible constipation.
Damn it.
She had laughed at everyone who mistook her for Guanyin and called them idiots. It turned out she had been the clown all along.
What master artist had painted a cheap kite this convincingly?
Shengsheng picked it up and looked skyward again.
A small, entirely black bird hovered above her, wings fluttering as it watched.
Honestly, aside from Pecky, this was the first time another bird had made her feel humiliated.
Had she just been fooled by a bird?
At the thought, a strange laugh escaped her.
“Make your entrance, darling!”
She swept her sleeve, flinging a black-and-white red panda into the air.
A-Pang appeared to have been asleep. Before they could wake, they were hurled out, and their furry face became intimately acquainted with the cold ground.
*Go, A-Pang! Catch that black bird for me!*
Shengsheng did not know whether animals could see A-Pang. As long as A-Pang could see the bird, it hardly mattered.
Still nursing the rage of being forcibly awakened but not daring to complain, A-Pang flew off after it.
The bird seemed able to see them. The two little creatures darted back and forth through the air until Shengsheng’s eyes blurred.
She retrieved the Guanyin kite and shrugged.
She was hungry.
Shengsheng glanced at A-Pang overhead and shook her head in exasperation.
She still had matters to discuss with her strategist. She had no time to watch A-Pang play.
With that thought, she waved her sleeve and walked away.
A-Pang remained behind, weeping as they matched wits with the black bird and suffered inexplicable pecks.
* * *
Unlike the brothers crammed into communal sleeping halls, strategist Yong Wu possessed a private courtyard.
It even had a fenced enclosure with several birds and livestock.
When Shengsheng arrived, Yong emerged holding several eggs, a chicken feather perched on his head. His eyes met those of his chief just inside the gate.
“Chief? Why did you come alone? Is Eunuch Zhang not accompanying you?”
Shengsheng stared.
She was not an emperor. Why would she need a eunuch constantly at her side?
“I came to discuss something.”
Yong invited her inside.
Though occupied by a single man, the room was immaculate. A cluster of yellow flowers stood by the window, lending warmth to the simple wooden house.
Unfortunately, his chairs were rather high. Shengsheng nearly failed to climb onto one.
Even after she succeeded, Yong, seated across the table, could see only the fuzzy crown of her head.
Yong could not see his chief’s face.
Shengsheng could see only the table legs.
An awkward silence filled the room.
At last, Yong moved the obstructive table aside.
Shengsheng explained her plan.
Yong became lost in thought and did not answer for a long time. She waited patiently.
Eventually, he spoke in a hoarse, conflicted voice.
“Chief, you mean we will no longer be bandits?”
Shengsheng nodded.
Yong had once been a scholar. Considering the misfortunes that drove him here, he was probably the person on the entire mountain who least wanted to remain a bandit.
Sure enough, Yong Wu soon nodded.
“But Chief, the brothers have followed this trade for years. Even if you tell us to change professions, what else can we do?”
Shengsheng smiled. “Don’t worry. Changing professions won’t be a problem. I even found you a master. This road will absolutely lead to wealth.”
When she confiscated the weapons from the strongholds on Feng Mountain, Shengsheng had noticed something.
The bandits were remarkably skilled with their hands. Their way of life demanded that they know blacksmithing, forging, and repairs. Yong told her that most of the weapons Shengsheng destroyed had been forged by the bandits themselves. Many even bore decorative patterns.
Their craftsmanship astonished her.
Did you think she planned to establish a team of weaponsmiths?
No. Sorry.
“That is the plan. I know none of you are familiar with this trade, so I have found you a master. The rest depends on your own aptitude.
“Banditry cannot last. The people loathe and resist you, while the authorities despise and hunt you. Don’t you wish to depend upon yourselves and live openly as honorable men?
“Who wants to spend a lifetime in darkness? Who does not wish to stand in the sun?
“Your opportunity has arrived. Of course, I will not force anyone to follow me. Those unwilling may leave now. I will not stop you.”
The tiny girl stood atop a lectern made from three stacked wooden crates. Her childish voice still slurred some words, yet it rang with conviction. Her black-grape eyes shone with passion for the future.
After her speech, some chose to leave. Some hesitated. Others remained motionless and silent.
Most had lost their homes to natural disaster or human cruelty. They had spent half their lives wandering with nothing, and no one had ever taught them how to live.
Who would not want to stand in the sunlight?
Yet those who thought so were ultimately the minority.
Most had grown accustomed to the ease of stealing others’ wealth.
Of the one thousand and eight men, only two hundred brothers remained.
Shengsheng felt no sorrow as she watched the others depart.
Only by discarding the dross could she preserve the finest.
“Very well. Then I declare that from this moment forward–
“Dafu Zhou Jewelry is officially established!”
* * *
San Zhang hurried back toward Mount Liang, exhausted and afraid.
If he returned late and three days passed, the Chief’s evil arts might mysteriously kill him. What an unjust death that would be.
The buyer he found was an old associate, one of the few friends who knew his identity as the Thousand-Faced Man: an underground merchant from Zhen Kingdom.
Several days later, in Zhen’s imperial palace–
The armor San had barely sold before it was confiscated now rested in the hands of a green-robed man.
He stared at it with a complicated expression. Its original owner was obvious at a glance.
Unable to resist, he addressed the man reclining lazily beside him.
“Do you think Siran Ming owed me something in his previous life? Why do his possessions always end up in my hands?”
The other man did not answer.
Weiqing gave a cold laugh and approached him. “You know where Xiaohong is, don’t you?”
The man’s long, thick lashes shifted.
Weiqing continued, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Your moods were unpredictable a few days ago. These last few days, you’ve become quite relaxed.”
Fusheng Duan lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, thin lips curving.
“Shall we go find her?”
He had intended to let the little thing play outside for a few more days.
But it seemed someone could no longer endure the wait.